What is Regenerative Medicine?

Pinnacle Transplant Technologies is a “regenerative medicine” company, but many may not understand what that phrase means. Here we define the field of regenerative medicine and offer unique facts about the industry.

Definition
According to the National Institutes of Health, regenerative medicine focuses on the process of restoring areas of the body (bone, tissue, organs, etc.) that have experienced lost function or damage due to age, disease or injury. This restoration process typically falls in one of two categories: in vivo (in the living body) or in vitro (developed in a laboratory). The Mayo Clinic expands on the definition by recognizing three concentration areas within the field: 1) Rejuvenation 2) Replacement 3) Regeneration. Rejuvenation signals an emphasis in boosting internal healing processes, while regeneration explores cellular therapies and related products.

It is replacement that is of particular interest to us because it represents the transplantation of healthy donor cells into living recipients. One of our core processes involves the preparation of bone and tissue allografts from deceased donors that aid in the healing/recovery process. In total, our regenerative products have positively impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide.

Fun Facts

The first skin allograft was performed in 1908 by Jacques Louis Reverdin of Sweden (Source: The Transplant Network)

The first successful kidney transplant took place in 1954 (Source: NIH)